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Cosmos.

Discussion in 'Identification Area' started by Kitte, Jul 29, 2022.

  1. Silver surfer

    Silver surfer PLANTAHOLIC

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    They look fine...splendid huge healthy plants.
    Maybe your ground is very fertile and plants are putting all energy into growing leaves rather than flowers.
     
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    • shiney

      shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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      That height is not unusual. It depends on the variety. You can get them in different heights. We have various heights in our garden.

      P1520840.JPG

      P1540990.JPG
       
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      • infradig

        infradig Gardener

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        It may be the photo/monitor but those plants of @Kitte seem to be extremely green, several shades darker than those of @shiney and many shades darker than mine! That suggests too much nitrogen/manure and that brings the potential of aminopyralid or clopyralid contamination either in the compost seeded/grown on or the 'topsoil' imported by the gardener. One could take some of the soil and seperately plant beans(with a control in seperate soil from elsewhere) and watch to see what develops. It may take 3 seasons for aminopyralid to dissipate in compost/soil. See link to Corteva, perpetrators of these poisons...

        Manure Matters
         
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          Last edited: Aug 9, 2022
        • Kitte

          Kitte Gardener

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          Interesting possible explanation. I have myself suspected the new spunky topsoil being too rich for cosmos, that is happier in poor soil. Whether the topsoil is affected by the chemicals mentioned, I know not, neither am I prepared to research it.
          Interestingly enough, I have a small bed the other side of the garden with a climbing hydrangea in it, it has just common or garden compost in it, and the three surplus cosmos plants I put in there are growing normally ! Don’t think they will flower though, as the bed is not getting a whole lot of sunshine, just couldn’t throw them out.
           
        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          I don't think the leaves are any darker than those of mine. With mine it is simply the lighting at the time of taking the photos.

          We grow ours in tubs, fill the tubs with simple MPC and water them regularly. Once they really get going they get fed with a light dose of Tomorite twice a week. Nothing fancy is done to them. I don't know whether there is some overthinking being done. The only other salient factor is that we talk to them nicely - as we do with all our plants.
           
        • Kitte

          Kitte Gardener

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          Well, as this is as far as my planned ‘riot of cosmos colour’ goes, they are coming out ! They were supposed to fill the gaps this summer between my as yet young shrubs, and all they are doing is, they are sucking nutrients out of the soil and, in some cases, 7E37961C-8084-4C68-80E6-4635D30FFD22.jpeg stopping other shrubs from growing due to lack of light. Sometimes you have to pick your fights !!!!!
           
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          • pete

            pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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            I wouldn't let them swap any shrubs you are trying to establish.
            Give them a trim around them.
             
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            • Kitte

              Kitte Gardener

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              Bye bye Cosmos ! What a disaster, took me ages and had to get the heavy duty cutters out, as some of the stems were too much for hands and secateurs ! I was intending to save the bit with four blooms on it, but when you are in ‘slash and burn’ mode, there’s always collateral damage.
              This pile is just from the bed on the left, I have filled another two bins with these triffids, do t know if I will ever attempt to grow Cosmos again !
              I promise you, I won’t bore you any further about my Cosmos, honest! BC0DA003-0E9B-4300-895F-3379B958D775.jpeg
               
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              • JWK

                JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                That's a shame but thanks for the update.
                 
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